


don't bother looking down, we're not going that way

by boy_in_red



Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club, Hidden Block (Video Blogging RPF), NormalBoots
Genre: Angst, Austin is Oblivious, Crying, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Panic, Hana is a Lesbian, Homoeroticism, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Men Crying, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Smut, THEY ARE ALL ADULTS ALL OF THIS IS LEGAL, an incredible amount of homoerotic tension while playing soccer, austin says fuck at LEAST once, ian talks in comic sans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boy_in_red/pseuds/boy_in_red
Summary: in which hana is a lesbian, austin is confused, and jeff is trying his best.lowercase is intentionaltitle from "we fell in love in october" by girl in red (but you already knew that. gayass.)updates every saturday, or sunday if i'm busy.
Relationships: Austin Hargrave & Hana Mizuno, Austin Hargrave & Mai Sasaki, Austin Hargrave/Hana Mizuno (unrequited), Hana Mizuno/Mai Sasaki, Jeff Fabre & Ian MacLeod, Jeff Fabre/Austin Hargrave
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. austin please stop crying before jeff has an anxiety attack

**Author's Note:**

> YES i am aware that this game is over four years old NO i do not care they are IN LOVE

jeff’s phone buzzed. he looked over as his screen lit up with a received text from “peebs <3”- austin. he paused the game and picked up his phone.

peebs <3:

r u in ur dorm

he frowned and shot back a response

me:

yeah but ian isn’t here

what’s up?

it took a few minutes for austin to respond.

peebs <3:

can i drop by

please

me:

ofc

whats wrong??

he didn’t receive a response. that worried him, but he reassured himself that austin was okay and resumed his game of mario kart. about 10 minutes later, he heard knocking at his door. he jumped, then felt stupid for being startled. he’d literally invited him over- it’s not like he hadn’t expected it. he opened the door with a smile and greeting- only for it to die on his lips as he saw austin.

he looked… distraught. upset. not good, that’s for sure.

“shit, are you okay?” he stepped aside to let his friend in. austin flopped onto the couch, putting his head in his hands.

“she’s a lesbian!” he wailed. “the love of my life is a _lesbian!”_

hana. austin talked about her constantly. their childhood together, how sweet she was, how pretty she looked, how much he loved her- jeff personally thought she was a bit… boring. just because she had pink hair didn’t make her special.

not that he’d ever say that to austin.

“shit, peebs, i’m so sorry.” he sat down next to austin, placing his hand on his back. 

that wasn’t a lie. he _was_ sorry. he was very aware of what it felt like to love someone who would never love you back because of their sexuality.

painfully aware. 

austin groaned, and jeff patted him on the back. “what happened?”

“she said she had to talk to me about something, and i… i got excited. and then- she said that she thought she might be… a lesbian, and that she- she had feelings for… for… mai…” austin’s words slowed from frantic ranting to disappointing realization. jeff could tell by the tremor in his voice that he was trying not to cry. 

jeff knew the feeling. god, he _knew._

“and, like, i’m happy for her! i should be happy for her! i support her, and i’m happy she found someone she loves, and is figuring out who she is, but-” he rambled, wiping his eyes. “she means _everything_ to me, and- she’s never- she’ll never love me like i love her!”

“i get it. it’s okay.” he wrapped his arm around austin’s shoulders. 

“it’s just- it’s so-” austin gave a frustrated sob, tears sliding down his face. 

jeff pulled him close, letting him cry into his shoulder.

“it’s not _fair!”_ he cried. jeff ran his hand through austin’s hair, murmuring soft “i know”s and “it’s okay”s.

they stayed like that for a while, austin babbling and crying, jeff comforting him quietly. 

jeff almost jumped as he heard the quiet creak of the door. looking up, he found ian standing there, looking confused. jeff held his finger to his lip in a “shh” motion and shooed him out of the room. he nodded and left, shutting the door as quietly as possible. austin didn’t seem to have noticed. he’d gone from muttering meaninglessly to quietly sobbing. 

after a while, austin quieted. when jeff went to check on him, he found his friend fast asleep. it was about 8:30 pm- he should probably get austin back to his dorm before curfew.

he hefted austin into his arms, careful not to disturb him as he stood. he made a noise of discontent, but didn’t stir. jeff left the room, carrying him up a flight of stairs and stopping outside of his dorm. he carefully adjusted austin so he could knock (quietly) on the door. he really hoped jon was home. it would be very difficult to unlock the door while holding austin.

luckily, the door swung open almost instantly.

“hey! what’s-” austin made a small noise. jon’s smile dropped, along with the volume of his voice. “oh.” he moved aside and let jeff carry austin in and set him on the bed. 

jon frowned upon seeing his roommate’s tear-streaked face. “is he ok?

“he… he’s had a rough day. make sure he’s okay tomorrow, alright?” jeff reached out to stroke austin’s hair.

“y-yeah. ok.” jon nodded. “thanks.”

“it’s nothing.” jeff nodded back and left, navigating back to his own room. 

when he got back, he found ian already there, on his laptop. he gave jeff a look. “what was that about?”

“hana,” he answered simply. ian nodded, returning to whatever he was working on. homework, likely. 

“i’m gonna turn in early, i think.” jeff pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the side- he and ian were very comfortable around each other. 

“that looked tiring.” ian agreed from his desk.

“this situation specifically. you know how hard it is to comfort someone when they’re feeling the exact same way you’ve been feeling for the past three years without letting them know that you’ve been feeling like that?” he paused as he got ready to sleep. “that probably didn’t make any sense.”

ian’s expression grew somber. “oh. no, i understand.”

ian was the only person who jeff had told about his feeling for austin. 

as jeff got into bed and faced the wall, ian flicked off the lights. the only thing illuminating the room was the glow of ian’s laptop. 

jeff closed his eyes. he was feeling… a lot of things.

he was worried for his friend. he knew how it felt- it was hard. he’d help him get through it, though.

and, despite himself… he felt happy. he’d been head over heels in love with austin for _three years_ \- and he might finally get a chance with him!

and immediately after, overwhelming guilt. he shouldn’t be thinking like that. austin was straight. probably. he needed time to move on and figure himself out. now was not the time for jeff to be gay.

the methodical clicking of ian’s keyboard helped calm his restless mind, and he finally drifted off to sleep.


	2. austin somehow does not realize that jeff is a homosexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> austin and jeff get lunch. it... could have gone better.

jeff did a lot of things that austin didn’t understand.

like how austin sometimes caught him staring at him with an unreadable expression. or how sometimes, when he’d talk about hana, sadness would flicker through jeff’s face. or the adoration in his eyes when austin rambled about the new game he picked up. or the way he absolutely lit up when he saw austin in the morning.

he didn’t understand a lot of things he did. but he didn’t mind not knowing, either. it'd been going on since they’d become friends. he didn’t really think much of it. it was kind of just something that happened.

he pondered this as he stared blankly at the wall, not quite ready to get out of bed, but also not tired enough to fall back asleep. he’d been laying there for quite a while.

“austin?” jon’s hesitant voice cut through his thoughts. he made a sleepy noise of acknowledgement. “are you… okay?”

“‘m fine.” he rolled over to find jon giving him a concerned look.

“oh. that’s good. jeff told me to ask you if you were okay when you woke up. i’m glad you’re doing good, though.” he hesitated. “what happened?”

“bad day.” he said simply. he sighed, finally pushing his blanket off and sitting up.

jon’s expression remained worried. “are you sure you don’t want to talk about it? you don’t have to, but- i’d be happy to help.”

austin paused to think. it really wasn’t his place to tell jon that hana was a lesbian- she’d trusted him enough to share that information with him, and he’d already told jeff- it’d be better not to tell anyone else. but he also didn’t want to worry his friend.  _ probably best to keep it vague.  _ “it’s about hana.”

jon’s eyes went wide for a moment, then he nodded. “oh. okay. i won’t push.”

“thanks.” austin smiled weakly as he got out of bed. honestly, he was still pretty tired. and thirsty. as he got ready for the day, he realized just how dishevelled he looked- his hair was a  _ mess. _ he should probably try to clean up a bit more.

after quite a bit of effort, he managed to look presentable enough to be seen in public. as he ran his fingers through his hair in a final attempt to keep it down, he shot jeff a text.

me:

hey, just wanted to say thank you for last night

sorry for ruining your shirt

jeff:

don’t worry abt it!! im glad i could help :)

are you feeling bettr?

better*

me:

yeah

jeff:

that’s good!!

if ur up to it, wanna get lunch?

me:

sounds good

want to meet there?

jeff:

nahh i’ll come meet u at ur dorm

ill be there in 20

see u then!! :))

austin smiled. he felt significantly better after that short interaction with his best friend.

man, austin was so lucky to have jeff. he was so caring and sweet, even if he was a bit… eclectic, at times. austin loved him anyway. jeff always managed to brighten his day. 

“whatcha smiling for?” jon said from over his shoulder. austin yelped and whirled around.

“don’t scare me like that!” he put his hand on his chest. “jeff and i are getting lunch.”

“oh, fun!” he grinned. “when are you leaving?”

“he said he’d be here in 20 minutes or so. so i’m just waiting.” austin collapsed into his bean bag chair, absently scrolling through twitter. he made idle conversation with jon until he finally heard a familiar knock at the door.

was that weird? to know how he knocked? the pattern and weight of it? austin didn’t think it was. he opened the door with a tired but happy smile on his face.

“good morning!” jeff greeted cheerfully.

“it’s noon,” austin pointed out.

“unimportant!” he grabbed austin’s hand and pulled him into the hallway, humming a tune as he walked.  
“you seem happy. did something happen?” austin commented. jeff hadn’t let go of his hand. austin didn’t mind- there was nothing wrong with two bros holding hands. platonically.

“can’t a guy just be happy?” jeff laughed softly, swinging their linked hands. it was cute.

“that’s fair. what are you feeling for lunch?”

“there’s a new ramen place a few blocks down. i was thinking we could check it out?” he offered.   
“that sounds good.”

that chatted about trivial things as they walked, like school and soccer. then austin realized something.

“why’d you come pick me up? couldn’t we have just met up there?”

jeff shrugged. “i wanted to walk with you.”

austin’s cheeks flushed red- why was he blushing? “that’s- that’s sweet!”

they lapsed into silence as they walked, making their way to the restaurant. they arrived and got a table, and ordered. as they waited for their food, jeff tried to spark up conversation again.   
“so… hana, huh?

austin sighed. he knew this would come up. “yeah. i think sleep definitely helped me clear my head. i’m not, like… mad at her, or something. i’m proud of her for coming out! it just- it hurts a bit, y’know?”

“yeah. it’s not like she did something wrong.” jeff agreed.

“yeah. i just…” austin trailed off. jeff nodded.

an awkward silence settled over the pair. austin drummed his fingers on the table, avoiding eye contact. he shifted in his seat.  _ god, this is the worst. _

“do you know when our next soccer game is?” austin spoke, trying desperately to break the strange tension.

“no, actually. i’ll ask when i get back.”

silence again. it hung over them like a blanket. a very heavy, uncomfortable blanket. austin ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think of something to do to keep his hands busy.

finally,  _ finally, _ their food arrived. austin internally sighed with relief.

they ate, still in silence. multiple times, austin caught jeff looking at him like he wanted to say something, then looking away again.

austin could feel jeff shifting, trying to think of  _ anything _ to say that’d clear the near-palpable discomfort between them. 

it was horrible.

finally, austin cracked.

“oh my GOD this is so awkward.” austin groaned, putting his head in his hands. “we have been friends for THREE YEARS! it should not be this hard to make a conversation!”

jeff laughed, successfully shattering the fragile quiet between them. “yeah! why is this so difficult?”

“anxiety, i guess?” austin shrugged. finally, at least they were talking. 

they kept idle conversation going as they ate, paying for their food and eventually leaving. jeff tried to bring up the topic of hana again as they walked back to their dorms, which austin swiftly shut down. as they reached their rooms and parted ways, austin couldn’t help but ponder on jeff’s behaviour through the day.

why did he keep looking at him like that? what was up with that look in his eye? what was he trying to say, in those moments of tense hush between them?

maybe it meant something. maybe it didn’t. maybe it was just one of those things that jeff did for no particular reason.

it wasn’t that important.

he’d think about it later.


	3. so yeah im a gamer *finger guns*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> austin and jeff play mario party

“wanna play mario party?” austin offered. jeff gave him a look. “whaaat? i’m just asking!”

“that sounds like a terrible idea.”

“maybe you’ll break your streak?”   
jeff paused. he hadn’t won a game of mario party in a  _ long _ time- the d.k. curse, he called it. he  _ did _ really want to win. “...fine. let’s play mario party.”

“sweet.” austin grinned and switched games- he’d been playing breath of the wild, with jeff commentating over his shoulder. jeff shifted in his bean bag chair as austin started the game. “what map do you want?”

“uhh… do the domino one! i don’t remember doing that one.”

“sounds good.” austin skipped through the menus and to the character selection screen. they always played as the same characters- austin as luigi, and jeff as donkey kong. it was simply a constant. plus the two npcs, who had ended up as daisy and monty mole. 

the game began, and they rolled for turn order. jeff rolled a six, which meant he’d get to go first. austin, who’d rolled a five, gave him a dirty look. jeff laughed. off to a great start. 

the first turn went relatively uneventfully, and they started the first minigame. “fuzzy flight school”- austin won, despite jeff’s sabotage attempts. 

the game escalated as jeff got the first star- unusual for him. he cheered, nudging austin with his elbow. of course, the next star landed right in front of austin, much to his delight.

“you BITCH!” jeff groaned. austin laughed. they moved onto another minigame- a 2v2. perfect fit, it was called. austin and jeff had to work together on this one. there was a lot of yelling and poorly attempted coordination, and austin nearly threw his controller, but they ended up winning. somehow.

the game continued. the competitive energy between them only grew stronger. they were constantly tied for stars. jeff got one, then austin got one. there were still the npcs, but they weren’t particularly worried about them. who cares about the npcs?

and then austin reached a lakitu space. he could steal a star from any other player on the board. 

“peebs. peebs, please. don’t do it.” jeff pleaded. austin moved to hover over jeff’s character, grinning mischievously. “peebs.  _ austin. _ don’t do this to me, man.”

austin pressed a, locking in his choice.

“NOOOOO!” jeff wailed. “YOU’RE THE WORST!”

austin cackled at his friend’s misery. after that point, sabotage attempts grew more… physical. elbowing eachother during minigames, (gently) hitting eachother as a distraction, kocking the joycon out of each other’s hands- at one point, jeff stole austin’s controller and booked it. austin tackled him to the floor and wrestled it out of his hand before he reached the door- which definitely did not give him  _ any _ gay thoughts whatsoever. none at all.

the game progressed. minigame after minigame, star after star. there was a lot of yelling. but as upset as they may have seemed, they both knew it was all in good fun. they were a competitive duo, but they still cared deeply about eachother.

and then the game was over. they’d finished with three stars each- a tie. monty mole had two stars, and daisy, one. it was down to the bonus stars. 

monty mole got the first one, to their disappointment, but it was still anyone’s game. whoever got the next star would win. tension was high as they waited for the final bonus star. as the name appeared on screen, jeff threw his hands in the air and whooped.

“I WIN! I WIN! I FUCKING WIN! FINALLY!” jeff yelled, jumping from his seat. the coin star. he’d collected so many coins this game- that star had to be his. “THE CURSE! IT’S-”

he froze. he stared at the screen with abject horror as the star moved. not to him, but to-

_ monty fucking mole. _

“WHAT THE FUCK?” jeff dropped the joycon, letting it fall to the carpet.

austin burst into laughter as jeff fumed. “WHAT THE SHIT? FUCK YOU, MONTY MOLE! FUCK YOU!” he paced the room, yelling obsceneties before toppling backwards onto austin, sprawling unceremoniously onto his lap. “i’m dead. i’ve died.” he put his hand on his chest dramatically and closed his eyes.

“can’t believe jeff is dead.” he could hear the smile in austin’s voice. “guess he’ll never win a game of mario party. he’ll die with the d.k. curse.”

“shit, nevermind, i’m alive!” jeff sat up, now sitting in austin’s lap. austin laughed, and then-

wrapped his arms around jeff’s torso and pulled him close, pressing their bodies together. he rested his head on jeff’s shoulder, sighing contentedly. jeff face was beet red. 

“relax. there’s nothing weird about two homies cuddling.” austin muttered with a grin. jeff let himself sink into austin’s touch- he was very warm. and, despite being tall and lanky as shit, very comfortable.

“wanna go back to playing breath of the wild? i can commentate better from here.” jeff piped up.

“sounds good to me.” austin reached over and grabbed jeff’s abandoned controller and snapped it into place with his own, making it more resemble a regular controller. jeff resumed his (frankly irritating) commentary of the game from his comfortable position inside austin’s arms. it felt very warm and safe. it felt like home.

jeff could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter, and certainly not my best work. this chapter was supposed to be something else entirely, but there were complications. sorry.


	4. homophobia is real and this proves it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeff gets in trouble during class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's shit lol sorry

austin always knocked on the door the same way. he’d knock four times. knock-knock, knock-knock. there was a pause in the middle for about half a second. jeff thought it was interesting that he never deviated from that pattern. austin always did the exact same thing.

austin. he liked the name austin- it rolled off the tongue well. it was a shame he couldn’t say it more often. the only people who were actually allowed to call him austin were the normalboots club (and jeff), and even then, the only time anyone ever called him that is if it was serious, or to emphasize something. he’d say it more often if he could, but he didn’t want it to be weird. so he mostly stuck to calling him peebs, like everyone else.

he’d been friends with austin for a long time, so he supposed he’d earned the privilege. they’d met on the soccer team in their first year. jeff thought he was cute, so he struck up a conversation. unfortunately for him, he’d ended up falling completely head-over-heels in love with the guy. it didn’t fade, either- it held strong for the next three years, all the way to today. and he was still in love. there was just something about him. maybe the way his hair was always a bit too long, or how excited he got when he talked about something he loved, or the way he looked when he was playing soccer, or-

“mister fabre!”

jeff jumped, snapping to attention “y-yes!”

miss shizuka loomed over him, glaring. “what is the answer to the question on the board?”

“uhh…” jeff shifted his gaze to the board. he didn’t understand… any of it, honestly. he shrugged.

her scowl deepened. “while you were busy staring off into space, you missed today’s lesson. i’ll speak to you after class.”

jeff sighed and nodded. “sorry, miss shizuka.” he heard austin snicker from across the room. jeff shot him a dirty look.

as class continued, he allowed himself to sink back into his thoughts. what was it about austin that he loved so much? he had this awkward energy about him. he reminded jeff of a golden retriever- loyal and excitable, if a bit.. oblivious. (stupid. austin was stupid. he really couldn’t deny it.) and he was so passionate- he’d devote hours and hours to getting better at soccer, when he was, frankly, really damn good at it already. he admired how dedicated he was. it was charming, really. 

the bell rang. as the classroom cleared out, jeff looked up to find the teacher standing in front of his desk. lovely.

“listen, miss shizuka, i’m sorry. i’ve got a lot on my mind right now.” jeff tried to explain. she leaned forward, scrutinizing him, examining his expression. then she seemed to realize something, and she… smiled?

“i recognize a man in love when i see one.”

jeff’s cheeks went pink. _was it that obvious?_ “i don’t- i’m not-” he paused. “yeah. you probably do.”

miss shizuka laughed. “you’re fine for today. go get him, whoever he is.”

“how did you _know?”_

“i can tell. now, go!” she pushed him out of the room. he shook his head and began walking towards his dorm. as he arrived and opened the door, he found ian on the couch, on his phone. he looked up as jeff walked in.

“jeff.” ian set his phone down. jeff raised an eyebrow.

“yes, ian?”

“come here.” ian patted the spot next to him on the couch. jeff sat down next to him. “listen. i think you should come out to peebs.”

“...why?”

“i just think it’s something you should be honest with him about. it’s not like he’d going to not want to talk to you anymore. i mean, he’s still friends with jared, isn’t he?”

jeff thought about that for a moment. ian was right- austin was definitely supportive of jared (he’d come out as bisexual last year), and he was… supportive? of hana? in whatever case, he knew logically that austin probably wouldn’t care. but still…

“i’m scared of telling him.” jeff confessed. “i’m worried he’ll… i don’t know. get mad, or something.”

“i get it.” ian nodded. “but i promise it’ll be fine.”

“i know. it’s just irrational, i guess.” jeff sighed, leaning back. “yeah. yeah, i’ll tell him. soon.”

ian smiled. “good!”

they lapsed into silence for a while. ian picked up his phone. jeff took the opportunity to zone out and think for a bit.

“how do you do it?”

“do what?” ian looked up.

“how are you just… out? to everyone? without being afraid?”

“well, i used to be. i used to be fuckin’ _terrified._ but i kind of just… stopped caring about what others thought about it. if they didn’t like me for who i was, that was their fault, not mine.” ian explained briefly. jeff nodded.

they fell back into silence for a while. it was several minutes before ian finally broke it.

“wanna play mario kart?”

“ _please._ ” 


End file.
